Housing starts rose to 699,000 in January 2012 which is the highest level since October 2008. Prior to the announcement, Econoday was predicting 657,000 – 675,000 housing starts for January. This is a great sign for the real estate market showing builders are regaining confidence.

In fact, homebuilder confidence in the single-family homes market increased for the fifth consecutive month in February, reaching a four-year high.  “This is the longest period of sustained improvement we have seen in the HMI since 2007, which is encouraging,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe in the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo press release.

“Builder confidence has doubled since September as measured by the HMI,” said NAHB Chairman Barry Rutenberg, a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. “Given the recent improvements in new home starts and the increasing number of markets included in the NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index, this consistency suggests that the housing market is moving toward more sustainable growth.”

HousingWire is also reporting construction of multifamily housing increased by 14% to an annualized rate of 175,000 in January and building permits inched up 0.7% to an adjusted rate of 676,000.